Too Hot For Quilting

I am not a fan of hot weather. I grew up in Minnesota where the winters are very cold and a portion of the summer is hot with high humidity. But I hate the heat. It's probably primarily because I feel like it prevents me from accomplishing so many things. I have canning to do -- but it's too hot. I have several customer quilts to do -- but it's too hot. I have a garden that needs some attention -- but it's too hot. It's too hot for even sleeping! We have two room air conditioners in our living room but when the temperatures get this high they don't begin to keep up. So I guess today will probably not show much progress in anything.

Applique Work

I have the whole day to myself. My family went on a hike up the Eagle Creek trail. I like to hike, but not 15 miles and not on this trail. It has to many dangerous spots. Besides I was looking forward to a day to do things that I wanted to do and not meet so many family demands. So I have gone to Beaverton Farmers Market and browsed through all their vegies, fruit and flowers. Very enjoyable. Callie went with me and first we stopped at Dutch Bros for a beverage that would make our trip that much more enjoyable. We also enjoyed some fabulous pastries from one of the booths. After I got home, I worked on a customer quilt, read, went grocery shopping, ate junk food for lunch (no one to tell me it wasn't healthy), spent time online and best of all -- worked on Leah's Spring quilt. I'm to the point of needing to get the applique on the center block. So I found a sweet pea flower online and drew the design on paper. Then I worked on a few different quilting designs and laying out the applique ideas on paper. I decided to use circles on this quilt (at least in the center) so I drew the design into a circular arrangement and then traced it onto the quilt. My husband made me a light box several years ago as a Christmas present and even though it doesn't get a lot of use, when I do need it, I'm so glad to have it. It makes tracing so much easier. Now I'm ready to cut the appliques, pin or glue them on, get the embroidery going and get this quilt finished. My goal is to have this quilt done by the start of school. Hmm, that may be difficult but if I have anymore days like today I'll accomplish that goal.

My Good Days

What makes a good day? For me, it's usually means being home and getting to do some things that I love. Today was a good day. I spent the first bit (after a morning walk) working on my latest quilt top. It's my two color quilt that is now a three color quilt! Oh well, things must change as quilts come to fruition. I've decided to call this quilt Leah's Spring. It was started during the 99 days Leah lived and represents through the colors and hopefully the quilting designs the beauty of her all-too-short life. I'm almost to the point of putting the blocks together. It's the same quilt that I made to commerate her memory (see photo quilt below) but this one will be for me. I hope to quilt it very heavily and just enjoy the process.

Later in the morning I picked beans, peas and beets out of my garden. I love to grow what we eat. It connects me with this earth and my creator in a unique way. After the harvest I spent the afternoon canning my produce. To most people I know, canning is a chore and not enjoyable, but not to me. I love to can. Granted some things are messy, sticky or a lot of work, but the satisfaction I get from seeing those beautiful jars of vegies, fruit or meat is worth all the effort. So I canned 5 pints of beets, 6 pints of green beans, and 2 half pints of peas.

While waiting for the canning to be finished I worked on my brown applique quilt. I also spent time watching my new baby chicks. I'm sure there will soon be a post on baby chicks.

But all in all it was a very good day.

Cutting Table

When I moved into my new studio and moved all my sewing paraphernalia into one place, I knew I needed some kind of cutting surface. In the past, my cutting has been done either at the kitchen table or counter and now I wanted it in the same room. I checked into lots of different kinds of cutting tables. My priorities were that it didn't take up a lot of space and possibly could even fold away. Some nice options would be that it had some usable shelves. Most important though, was that it didn't cost very much since I didn't have the money to spend. One day while wandering the aisles of Fred Meyer I literally almost tripped over a kitchen cart that someone had left in the aisle. The height was right, it could fold flat, and best of all it was on sale and I happened to have a coupon for an additional 10% off! Wow! Can't beat deals like that. So for $60.00 I brought home the kitchen cart. I love it. My mat doesn't fit perfectly, but my husband said he could someday make an extension for the top. Right now though, it's very usable the way it is and I love how it wheels around. I think it was a great find!

Repeat of the Unexpected

I have to smile when I think of how yesterday went. It was day two of my week off. My plans were to spend time in a couple fabric stores, have lunch out and then spend the afternoon working on the silk quilt for my daughter and son-in-law. My start for the stores was later than I expected so I thought, "I'll just do the Mill End Store". I hadn't been there in months and I love the fabric selection there. I wandered up and down the aisles for more than an hour, feeling all the fabric. Fabric must be felt not just looked at. I found 4 pieces that I thought were a perfect addition to the silk quilt. After purchasing them I decided I better get home and have a quick lunch (no going out) and get to sewing. On arriving home, I checked my receipt because it seemed like the tab was a lot higher than I expected. I had been charged twice for a piece of fabric and had overpaid by $18.00. If it had been less than $5.00 I would have written it off as just an unfortunate, unexpected incident, but $18.00. I decided I better go back. Now it's about a 20 minute drive to Mill End from my home so it looked like it would be about a one hour round trip. At least I had company this time. My daughter decided to go with me, so again we wandered the aisles and she felt inspired to sew something. The money was reimbursed and I was home by about 3:00. I did get the quilt cut out, but no sewing has yet to be done. Oh well, there's tomorrow, but who knows the unexpecteds of tomorrow!

Dealing With the Unexpected

I've been around long enough to know that most days don't go as expected. There is always the unknown that happens, things out of our control. My first day off was no exception to that rule. And as usual my expectations for what I could accomplish were much higher than was possibible in a day. But if I've learned one thing in life, it is that since life rarely turns out as you had hoped or wished you better find contentment and joy in what you have.

I started out my day by taking care of my granddaughter while my daughter-in-law and my other granddaughter went to a doctor's appointment. That was a good time. I went grocery shopping with my daughter, Callie and my granddaughter and then we came home and made lunch for my daughter-in-law, Kristine and Leah. Every minute spent with Leah is a joy. She is almost 2 months old and considering she was not expected to live at all, every day that I see her is not an interruption but a delight. Holding her and loving her, despite all the difficulties she has brings great joy. We know our days with her won't be as long as we would wish, so having her as part of my day was wonderful.

In the afternoon, I planned to start a silk quilt that is for my daughter and son-in-law who got married last fall. It was supposed to be for their wedding, but hey, if they get it by their first anniversary I'd say that's doing really well! So I cut some of the fabrics (see phot0). I have never made a quilt out of silk so I can see it's going to be a challenge. Working with fabrics that don't have the stability of cotton may require some different techniques other than the typical 1/4 inch seam. After cutting one set of blocks I could see there wasn't enough fabric to do the whole quilt. So I need to go hunt more fabric down.

Meanwhile, a customer called and had thought I would have her quilt done by now. I had planned on doing it last week but didn't get to it. So I quickly put the quilt on, worked several hours and got it done, and she came and picked it up. Another unplanned event of the day.

It wasn't really frustrating though, but just part of living. There's always a choice to get bent out of shape and frustrated or 'go with the flow' and enjoy the unplanned. I did have time to hang some antiques in my kitchen (see photo) and work in my yard. So what unexpected events will be in my day tomorrow?

Work First Then Play

I spent today cleaning. First my bedroom, which often becomes the dumping grounds for books, magazines, papers and stuff that just doesn't seem to have a home. I even sorted through all the bathroom cupboards and collected a whole garbage bag of stuff. It was amazing how many body gels and lotions I had saved with only a 1/2 inch left in them. Then I moved on to my studio. That too needed a good cleaning. After two quilting projects in the last two weeks there were scraps to put away, patterns and books to return to their proper place, and vacuuming of a lot of threads and fabric dog ears. All in all, I spent about 4 hours cleaning. The end result is I feel ready to play. Even though I want to have a relaxing week and one with some fun projects either started or completed, there is a great feeling with starting out with things clean. I can hear my mother's voice, "work first, then play". She was right you know!

Move To The New Studio

It happened! Over the weekend we moved all my sewing and quilting into my new studio. What a task! Since we were switching two rooms around and both rooms were full of paraphenelia, it was a huge undertaking. After painting the room, we moved all my daughters things to one side (as much as possible). Then we started to dismantle the longarm. It's been in my old studio for 9 years so I had no idea how it came apart. I asked my husband if he wanted me to take pictures of it, or find the manual so we knew how to put it back together, but being a guy, he said he didn't need instructions. Well, I would have been lost after the first two bolts were removed, but my great husband expertly took it apart and then reassembled it in my new studio.

After the longarm was in place, then everything else was emptied out of my old studio. There were boxes piled everywhere. I found projects and fabric that I couldn't even remotely remember ever having! By this time it was late Saturday night so everything had to come to a halt until Sunday afternoon. The next step was cleaning the old studio. Then we began to move all of my daughter's things into that room. Meanwhile we had piled up things all along one side of the new studio. Finally, everything was in the right room. The process of getting everything into a new place lasted well into Monday. I have about 2/3 of my sewing room put away. What is done looks wonderful, but one corner of my new studio is filled with bins and boxes of projects and nowhere to store it. There is a great walk-in closet in the room and someday I will have that for storage, but right now it still contains all my daughter's clothes and other items that will have to stay there until she returns home and for as long as she still lives at home. So it may be close to a year before I get use of the walk-in closet. I have a few ideas to help store my projects and fabric but at least some of it will have to find a home in either our shed or our garage.

It is exciting to think of sewing and quilting in my new studio. In fact, in the excitment of anticipation, I will probably have trouble deciding what to do! My hope is to eventually use my new space to have friends in to sew with me. I also will be able to use my space to continue to teach sewing through 4-H to young future seamstresses and quilters.

Color Choices

I have to choose a paint color for my studio. Since it has been my adult daughter's room there is no doubt that it must be repainted. Right now it has about 4 different colors on the wall and some zebra type lines as well as circles that say my daughter's name. I've gone to different decorating websites to look at what color is 'in'. I've been to several paint stores to look at colors. I now possess a multitude of paint chips, but what color do I paint it? The room has 5 windows (what luxury) so there is plenty of light in the room. My old studio is several shades of a golden yellow so I don't want to repeat that color. Most likely it will not be painted again or at least not for many years. Going neutral is safe but rather boring. Lately, I've gone in for more dynamic colors. Last fall I painted our half bath a pea green color -- I loved it. I have two brown walls in my living room and my dining room and kitchen have two deep red walls. My favorite color for the last few years has been green. I like to wear green, my eyes are a blue-green. Bottom line, though, is that I don't have much money to spend on paint and I have a can of green paint and a can of white paint. The green is darker than I want but if I mix them together -- hmm, it will be a surprise color. My own personal color of green. Stay tuned for pictures!